Feature: Why Enoch 'Lalas' Agyepong is the bravest artiste manager

Music is said to be dynamic, but from our part of the world, most music enthusiasts do not really comprehend that adage.

As Ghanaians, the most well-known genre to originate from the country is Highlife, but dynamically, the likes of Reggie Rockstone, Zapp Mallet, Sydney, Nana King, etc incorporated Hip-Hop influences to establish a newer hybrid genre, known as Hiplife.

Ever since Hiplife music came into conception in the late 90s, our native genre, Highlife was partially abandoned.

Those were the days when you dare not produce Highlife song or any other genre without rapping in it.

At that abhorrent time, it took a certain Speech Music Record label headed by Enoch Agyepong aka Lalas who defied all odds to produce a group called Akesifour (Joseph & Ras Biggy)

Immediately they splint into the music industry, Akesifour astonished the entire scene with their hit song titled ‘African Girls’, produced in Reggae vein and beautifully crooned in the English Language .

Many entertainment pundits,Djs,and most music lovers doubted whether they could make it with such a song— but because Enoch Agyapong comprehends the dynamism of music, he was unflustered about those criticisms, stayed focused and valiantly promoted the song which became an instant hit— that earned them nomination at the MTN Ghana music Awards then.

In 2013,Lalas produced the first Ghanaian artiste to release acoustic album by the name Joe Mensah, aka JM de Voice-- a partner of Ras Biggy in the Akesifour (AKC4) group which churned out tunes like 'Angel', 'Say Ahh', 'Eye Mi De', 'I'll Be There' and their biggest hit 'African Girl'

Presently, in our music scene, at the time when the popular genre happens to be Afro-pop/Dancehall music, with Shatta Wale, Ebony, Stonebwoy being the frontrunners, Enoch Agyepong has yet again lingered resolutely by producing a world-class artist by name Fatau Keita.

With one album, ‘Selina’ to his credit, Keita’s music is a blend of traditional Dagomba styles with Highlife— who takes inspiration from African musical heroes like Salif Keita, King Ayisoba, Angelique Kidjo and Fela Kuti.

One would wonder why Enoch didn't manage a Shatta Wale look alike but opted for a King Ayisoba look alike?

He has recently launched ‘Save Ghana’s Creative Industry’ campaign that seeks to educate stakeholders in the Creative industry on the need to structure the industry in order to meet international standard, and the need for the government to develop interest in funding some of the activities of the creative industry, especially music and movie industries, because of their roles in providing employment for the youth in the country.

In an attempt to make the Speech Music boss speechless in the industry, he has been the most vilified, tagged as arrogant and with so many hefty negative headlines— simply because he is known for his fearless decisions and criticisms not just as an artiste manager but as a pundit in ensuring that the right thing is being done in our creative industry.

As a plausible Online News Surgeon, after delving into how Enoch has been able to still stay relevant after going through all these trepidations, only one word came into my mind, which is Bravery!

Oh yes,Enoch Agyapong has really won my heart as the bravest artiste manager who doesn’t dance to just the hit songs.

Like Panayotis Alexander "Alexi” Lalas, a retired American soccer player who played mostly as a defender and Nii Odartey Lawson aka Lalas who also played as a defender for Ghana Black Stars/Accra Great Olympics, Enoch Agyapong has distinguished himself as the ‘Lalas’ of our creative industry.

We keep admonishing that our industry is not growing— well, how can it grow when it is mostly surrounded by frivolous minded people, who try to make an indefatigable industry player like Enoch Agyapong aka Lalas look like a nomad— simply because he loves the industry strikingly?

We keep admonishing that our industry is not growing— well, how can it grow when it is mostly surrounded by frivolous minded people, who try to make an indefatigable industry player like Lalas look like a nomad— simply because he loves the industry strikingly?